Kolkata: One person was arrested on Thursday in connection with the assault on Matua protesters at Thakurbari. Violence broke out on Wednesday when supporters of an AIMM (All India Matua Mahasangha) faction backed by the Trinamool Congress were allegedly attacked by supporters of junior Union minister Shantanu Thakur. Members of the faction loyal to TMC MP Mamata Bala Thakur had alleged that they were beaten up when they went to Shantanu's house to protest his remark that the deletion of the names of 1 lakh Matuas from the electoral roll, following the special intensive revision, was acceptable if that ensured the exclusion of 50 lakh infiltrators from the list.
The arrested man was Barun Biswas of Helencha in Bagda. He was produced before the Bongaon sub-divisional court on Thursday and remanded to five days' police custody.
Mamata Bala Thakur said an FIR was registered against 13 people. "Matua followers were assaulted. Members of Shantanu Thakur's group — particularly BJP cadres and a district president — used casteist slurs, snatched belongings, and molested women. The FIR names those involved," she said.
Denying the allegations, Sukhendu Nath Gayen, general secretary of the Shantanu Thakur-led AIMM, claimed that Biswas was falsely implicated. "The person who is arrested was not even present at Thakurbari during the incident," he said.
Meanwhile, Nantu Haldar (Gosai), president of the Gosai Parishad of the Mamata Bala-led AIMM, who sustained serious injuries in Wednesday's violence, remains in the ICU at Bongaon sub-divisional hospital.